Lerner, Maximilian (32908439): Difference between revisions

Maximilian Lerner (September 4, 1924 – September 10, 2022) was an Austrian-born American known for his work in the Military Intelligence Service during World War II. Lerner was born in Vienna, Austria on September 4, 1924, the son of a furrier and a homemaker. Born in Vienna, Austria, Max, his parents Isak and Bertha, and sister Susi, fled the Nazis in May 1938, arriving in the United States in 1941. He since then, I reviewed a copy of his published memoirs “Flight and Return” (2013) and now know that he underwent Ranger training for 2 months at Camp Sharpe and was assigned to a Replacement Depot. Maximilian worked as shipping clerk. After the breakout in Normandy, he served as liaison with Free French Forces and was commissioned as Special Agent with the CIC. When he arrived in Ireland, he joined the OSS but the Army assigned him to be an interpreter at HQ in London. He at war’s end, he served as an OSS officer in Bavaria (Bad Crailsheim) and as a Counterintelligence Officer in Wiesbaden. RB LERNER, who was born in Austria and served in the Counter Intelligence Corps of the OSS, is 96. Max Lerner followed the same footsteps as Glenn's Father's family - being born in Vienna, Austria, fleeing to United States after the Anschluss, joining the US Army, training together at Camp Ritchie, and serving heroically in the European Theater of Operations in WWII. Army on his 18th birthday and became an American citizen soon after. The family moved on to Manhattan, New York in 1941, where he attended high school at night while he worked during the day. Lerner learned French while he attended high school in France. After returning from the war, Lerner attended school on the G.I. Maximilian Lerner immigrated from Vienna to New York in 1941, then enlisted in the US Army and went back to Europe as an American soldier in 1944. Lerner enlisted in the U.S. Ritchie Boy Maximilian Lerner arrived at Camp Ritchie the same month as Glenn Godart's father in 1943. After basic training, he was sent to Camp Ritchie, a training center for military intelligence. He was assigned to Camp Ritchie (part of the Ritchie Boys) for training as a counterintelligence officer. His book, The Improbable Spy, was published in 2012, and I finished reading it today. He was one of the Ritchie Boys interviewed on the 60 Minutes program on January 2, 2022. He started a horticultural products business and raised a family. Lerner was one of four Ritchie Boys to be interviewed by 60 Minutes for his role in military intelligence during World War II. He wrote a memoir and two spy novels. He was recruited into the Office of Strategic Services as a special agent for secret missions in Germany. He also served in Europe overseeing interrogations and review of captured German documents. She will guide the conversation with our veterans about this fascinating story. From his obituary - "His was truly an American story. As part of his service he gathered intelligence and arrested war criminals during the first stages of deNazification." He died on September 10, 2022, in Manhattan.